A conventional CRT display uses a raster scanned electron beam to excite individual phosphors on a screen. A plasma display uses individually addressed cells in which an electric discharge (plasma) is used to excite a red, green, or blue phosphor. The plasma display generates images of exceptional saturation and brightness but suffers from poor energy efficiency relative to other display technologies. An LCD display uses individually addressed light valves to deliver red, green, or blue illumination to each pixel from a backlight. Each of these technologies uses a means to illuminate an individual subpixel within an image.
A MEMS device uses individually addressed mirrors or transmissive elements to project the pixels on the display surface. In one embodiment, the entire MEMS device is illuminated sequentially with either red, green or blue, and individual pixels are addressed to project a specific color pattern. The illumination source can either be white light, such as from a high pressure gas discharge source; red, green, and blue LEDs; or red, green, and blue lasers.
The MEMS device is generally much more energy efficient than other technologies, and is highly cost effective in larger screen sizes. However, lower manufacturing costs have favored the LCD technology in the most popular screen sizes.